Shopify subscription bundles, how to set them up

Shopify subscription bundles let a shopper buy a bundle on repeat, such as a snack box every month or a skincare routine every eight weeks. Shopify has no subscription switch for bundles: the plan comes from a subscription app through Shopify selling plans, and a bundle app offers those plans on the bundle and adds the items to the cart on the plan the shopper picked. This guide covers what Shopify allows, how to set it up in Elite Bundle Builder's subscription bundles, what the shopper sees, how the price stacks, and what to check before you go live.

What Shopify allows for subscription bundles

Subscriptions on Shopify run on selling plans. A selling plan says how a product can be bought, for example delivered every month at 10% off. Plans are created by a subscription app such as Recharge, Appstle, Seal, Loop, Skio or Shopify Subscriptions, and that app bills every renewal.

Three rules follow from that, and they shape every subscription bundle:

1. The plan belongs to the products. A bundle can only be offered on a plan that the products inside it are sold on.
2. Shopify's own bundles cannot carry a plan. The help centre states that bundles aren't compatible with purchase options, subscriptions included.
3. Cart lines on a plan are not merged. Normally a cart transform groups the picked items into one bundle line (the post on how Shopify bundles work explains the mechanism), but Shopify does not merge lines that carry a selling plan. A subscribed bundle arrives in the cart as separate item lines.

Which bundles you can sell on subscription

In Elite Bundle Builder, build your own bundles and multi-option bundles can be sold on subscription. Both add the real products to the cart, so each item can carry the plan the shopper chose. Fixed bundles cannot, because they are Shopify's own bundle products and rule 2 applies. A multi-option bundle is the one-to-one replacement: put each product in its own option, set a tier at a fixed bundle price for the same price, and it sells on subscription.

Good fits are things a customer runs out of: coffee and tea boxes, snack boxes, pet food, skincare and supplement routines, a razor handle with refill blades.

Put every product in one plan first

Before you touch the bundle, set up the plan in your subscription app. Every product in the bundle has to be in the same subscription plan (one selling plan group, in Shopify's terms). When you turn subscriptions on, the editor checks this and refuses if no single plan contains every product. For a step that pulls from a collection, it checks the collection's first 250 products.

Two things happen on the storefront when the picks do not line up. If an item the shopper picked is not on the bundle's plan, the purchase options picker does not show and the bundle sells as a one-time purchase. If any item can only be bought on subscription, one-time purchase is hidden.

Our advice: look hardest at steps that pull from a collection. A product added to the collection later, or one past the first 250, can be missing from the plan, and that one product hides the picker whenever a shopper picks it.

How to set up a subscription bundle in Elite Bundle Builder

Open a build your own or multi-option bundle in the editor, then go to Config, Subscriptions.

1. Turn on Offer subscriptions. The editor checks your products and connects a plan that contains all of them. If none does, the switch turns back off and a message says why.
2. Check the Connected plan. When more than one plan contains every product, Change plan lets you pick another.
3. Pick a Style: Radio buttons, Cards, Checkbox or Dropdown.
4. Set Show price to On each option, or In the cart total only.
5. Turn on Subscription only if the bundle should not be sold one-time. It hides one-time purchase. Otherwise, set Selected by default to One-time purchase or Subscribe.
6. Turn on Savings badge to show how much a plan saves, for example "Save 10%".
7. Under Plans, pick the delivery option selected first with Make default. Each option can also get its own Name shoppers see and, with Savings badge on, its own badge text, and both translate like every other storefront string.
8. Save.

The editor preview shows the connected plan's real delivery options, so you style the picker with what shoppers will see. The subscriptions docs cover every setting.

To change the wording for every bundle, open Settings, then Language & Texts, in the editor. The picker's texts are "Purchase options" (the heading), "One-time purchase", "Subscribe & save", "Deliver every" and "Save {percent}%", and each one translates like every other storefront string.

Set the bundle discount for subscription orders

The app creates one automatic discount that applies every bundle's tiers. Its settings are on the app's Settings page, under Bundle discount:

• Apply to subscriptions: whether bundles bought on subscription get the bundle discount.
• Subscription orders: Every order, or A set number of orders. The number includes the first order.
• Combines with: Product discounts, Order discounts and Shipping discounts.

The first time you save a bundle with subscriptions on, the app switches Apply to subscriptions on for you. After that, your choice in Settings stands, so if you turn it off, it stays off, and checkout no longer takes the bundle discount off subscribed bundles. The bundle discounts page explains the tiers themselves.

What the shopper sees

The purchase options picker sits just above Add to cart: in the side cart on a landing page, in the mobile cart bar, in the footer of the product page widget, and above the theme's own Add to cart button on a multi-option bundle. It shows the "Purchase options" heading, a one-time option, a subscribe option with a "Deliver every" choice for how often it arrives, and the savings badge if you turned it on. The delivery choices are the connected plan's options that every item the shopper picked shares.

The subscribe price is the plan's price with the bundle discount on top, shown on each option or only in the cart total, depending on Show price. When they add the bundle on a plan, each item goes to the cart as its own line on that plan. A one-time purchase of the same bundle still shows as one bundle line.

How the price stacks

The plan's saving comes first, then the bundle discount comes off that price. The two multiply rather than add.

Step	Price
Bundle at full price	$50.00
Plan saves 10%	$45.00
Bundle tier of 10% off	$40.50
Total saving	$9.50, which is 19%

Here is the opinion part. A subscribe and save discount plus a generous bundle ladder adds up fast, and it repeats on every order the bundle discount applies to. Run the combined number through the margin table in the bundle pricing strategy guide. If it is too deep, keep the plan saving small, or set Subscription orders to a set number so the bundle discount covers only the first few orders.

Check these before you go live

1. Every product that can appear in the bundle is in the connected plan in your subscription app, including collection products added later or past the first 250.
2. Apply to subscriptions is on in Settings, Bundle discount, and Subscription orders is set the way you want.
3. With the bundle unlisted, pick items, choose Subscribe and add the bundle to the cart. Check that each item shows the plan.
4. Go to checkout and confirm the bundle discount is there on top of the plan price.
5. Place a test order and confirm the subscription appears in your subscription app.
6. Repeat with One-time purchase and check that the cart shows one bundle line.

When all six check out, set the bundle to active.

Limits to know about

• Fixed bundles cannot be sold on subscription. It is a Shopify limit on its own bundles, not a setting. Rebuild one as a multi-option bundle, a one-to-one replacement that works.
• A subscribed bundle shows as separate item lines in the cart, not one bundle line.
• Elite Bundle Builder does not create plans, bill renewals, or handle skips, swaps or a customer portal. Your subscription app does all of that, and anything that happens after the first order is handled there.
• Each bundle connects one plan, and the picker only shows when every item the shopper picked is on it.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a subscription app to sell a bundle on subscription?

Yes. Elite Bundle Builder shows the plans and adds the items to the cart on the chosen plan, but the plans come from a subscription app that sells through Shopify selling plans, such as Recharge, Appstle, Seal, Loop, Skio or Shopify Subscriptions. That app also bills the renewals.

Can I sell a fixed bundle on subscription?

No. Fixed bundles are Shopify's own bundles, and Shopify does not sell those on selling plans. Rebuild it as a multi-option bundle, a one-to-one replacement that works with subscriptions: one option per product, and a tier at a fixed bundle price for the same price.

Why does a subscribed bundle show as separate lines in the cart?

Shopify does not merge cart lines that carry a selling plan, so the items stay as their own lines instead of being grouped into one bundle line. The bundle discount still applies at checkout when Apply to subscriptions is on, and a one-time purchase of the same bundle still shows as one line.

Does the bundle discount apply to renewal orders?

It does when Apply to subscriptions is on in Settings, Bundle discount. Subscription orders then sets whether it applies to every order or to a set number of orders, counting the first. Renewals are billed by your subscription app, so check the first renewal there before you rely on it.

Why is the purchase options picker not showing?

Usually because an item the shopper picked is not in the bundle's connected plan. Check that every product is in that plan in your subscription app, and that Offer subscriptions is on in the bundle's Config, Subscriptions, which also warns when a product has left the plan.

Elite Bundle Builder is free, subscription bundles included; the plans come from your own subscription app. Read the build your own bundle page or install Elite Bundle Builder from the Shopify App Store.